More and more offices and businesses are becoming aware of the need to be more environmentally friendly and work with a more eco-friendly ethos behind them. Recycling is part of this process and as many people spend a large proportion of their lives at the office or workplace, recycling here can have huge benefits to the environment.

We consume a lot of items at work, from sandwiches and snacks, to hot drinks, cans of pop, and confectionery. We also use a lot of recyclable material at the office such as paper, which can be recycled. And by recycling at work, more people can also be encouraged to recycle at home too which can lead to a better environment for everybody.

The key to a successful recycling regime around the workplace is ensuring the staff have the facilities to dispose of things properly, and recycling bins are the prime piece of equipment to achieve this.

A variety of different solutions and designs of recycling bin are available and selecting the appropriate ones is very much individual to each business and the processes and facilities they offer.

For instance, offices that have vending machines often have a glut of polystyrene, plastic or paper cups. These can be disposed of in cup collectors, which can be supplied with or without a flask to allow unwanted contents to be disposed off.

Similarly, a lot of offices have vending machines of canned drinks and these too, have a specialist can bank that can collect the recyclable cans ready for recycling.

Paper too can be collected in paper recycling bins and even documents with private or confidential information on them can be stored for shredding in lockable recycling bins, which will go along way to ensure an office is in keeping with the Data Protection Act.

For general waste, office recycling bins often come in multiple colours. This enables you to have a rule for what can be disposed of in each bin. Plastics in one, paper in another, food waste in a third, etc etc. Increasingly, local authorities are expecting businesses to recycle and provide recycling bins for use, but by offices having their own, the waste can be separated before it has to be emptied, saving valuable time and a lot of mess. Outdoor recycling bins are also available and these too can be colour coded to provide a simple way of describing what goes into each bin.

In order to keep a public location clean and tidy, the public bin is the most fundamental and important tool available. Providing receptacles for the general public to dispose of their waste is vital, especially in busy locations such as the high street, them parks and around fast food eateries.

Simply placing a bin in a public location, however, is not necessarily enough to ensure that the pavements and walkways remain clear and free from litter. Often locations either have bins placed in the wrong location, or not enough of them to begin with, which causes litter to be disposed of on the floor making the grounds unsightly and costly to clear up.

Having enough public bins and placing them in the right location is, therefore, an important aspect of dealing with waste in public locations.

Location of Bins

Placing a bin in the right location is key to ensuring a public area remains rubbish-free. Public outdoor bins need to be placed along walkways where the most footfall is, as those tucked away around corners will be easily missed.

Furthermore, the location of bins should depend on the type of facilities and services that are around. Areas with snack bars and eateries, for instance, will need bins around that are clearly visible, while remote areas with fewer people around and where food and other items that can cause waste are not sold will not be as important to place bins in.

Number of Bins

Ensuring you have enough public bins is also important. If outdoor bins get too full, too quickly then waste will soon spill out and build up around the area. Again, the number of bins is often dependent on the area. If there is a lot of fast food vendors around then several bins will be needed, however, in other areas a single bin may suffice.

Footfall is a good indicator to the amount of bins needed too. The more people, the more rubbish will be disposed of hence more bins.

Getting the number of bins and the right location to place them is an essential part of public waste management and getting it right is important to ensure the public areas remain litter-free.

Location of bins is important

As offices are busy places, where people can spend a large proportion of their working lives, they are also busy places for rubbish and waste. Office bins have to cope with a wide variety of waste and choosing office bins can be a challenge, especially with more emphasis on recycling. So knowing what bin to buy and for where can be quite difficult.

In sourcing office bins, you need to establish the types of rubbish and locations of the bins. In most modern offices the majority of waste that is disposed of is paper so a good paper recycling bin is essential.

These come in a variety of shapes and sizes and if you re worried about security, lockable paper recycling bins are available that can store paper data securely until it is time to be shredded. You can either choose to provide under the desk waste paper baskets for individuals, or have a larger paper recycling bin for the whole office – it depends on the numbers that work there and the distance involved in disposing of the litter.

Other items that can be recycled are common around offices too. Paper and polystyrene cups often litter many offices. These small vending cups can often be recycled and cup collectors and bins are a good idea anywhere where you have these sorts of vending machines. The same can be said for aluminium drinks cans which can also be recycled. Can banks are another must if you have a soft drinks machine.

Often office workers eat at their desks so somewhere for food packaging and non recyclables should be considered. A good-sized general waste bin is normally sufficient.

Outdoor areas need some sort of litter bin too, especially if office workers are smoking outside. Wall-mounted ashtrays are a good idea, this prevents the littering of cigarette ends around office entrances and are easily mounted onto most wall surfaces.

Wall mounted ashtrays are now essential outside

A good exterior bin is also a good idea, not just for people to dispose of items when they are on their way in or out, but having a large exterior bin where indoor bins can be emptied into will ensure the indoor bins can be regularly emptied.

When sourcing office bins the internet is perhaps the best resource/ There are a wide range of office bins available on the internet so check and compare prices and remember delivery times and costs too to ensure you don’t go over budget.

Recycling is becoming more and more important all the time. Not just around the home, but offices and workplaces are increasingly being encouraged to cut down on waste and recycle more. One of the difficulties both home-owners and businesses face, however, is how to encourage the family members and workers to follow suit.

One of the best methods of encouraging recycling is to replace the regular waste bins and buy recycling bins, which will actively force people to throw the right items in the right bins.

Recycling bins come in all sorts of variations and styles. Many are designed from home use but there is a wide selection of larger recycling bins ideal for the office and workplace.

There is, in truth, little difference between a recycling bin and a conventional rubbish bin, however, many recycling bins are colour coded, which means you can set-up your own rules as to what goes into each.

For instance, by replacing the kitchen bin with two-or-three recycling bins, each with a different colour lid, you can instruct the family members, to say, dispose of food waste in one colour, paper and wrappers in another, and perhaps tin cans and bottles in the third.

You can even match the colours with the schemes operated by your local council and it will save time when it comes to emptying the kitchen bin into the main recycling bins outside.

The same can be done around the workplace too. Recycling bins can be designated paper only, while others can be used for disposing of the cans or polystyrene coffee cups that can build so quickly around the workplace.

You can even get specialist receptacles for disposing of these items with cup collectors, bottle and can banks and even paper recycling bins.  While many offices have documents they need to hold securely, you can buy lockable paper recycling  bins to ensure your documents are kept safe until they are shredded and disposed of.

Lockable paper recycling bin

Recycling bins can be modern in design and style too. Often with contemporary designs they can look far better than the dowdy old dustbins so many workplaces use, and for the home there are a wide range of different styles to choose from to suit almost any décor of home.

Recycling bins are readily available on the internet and are inexpensive and will go a long way to ensure the rising costs of waste management in both business and domestic environments will not cause your home or business to suffer financially when you are eventually forced into recycling.

There are many locations where the amount of rubbish thrown in public bins can be excessive. While high street bins are very busy, and those outside fast food restaurants in particular, there are some areas where even these pale in significance.

These areas are either places where vast numbers visit for a specific event, or places where people spend all day enjoying leisure facilities – and it’s these types of areas where waste management and keeping the place litter-free can be a real challenge.

Theme Parks and Zoos

Theme parks and zoos are a good example of this. Because these areas have captive visitors – in other words people stay within the confines of the park all day. This means everything they consume, food, snacks, drinks, cigarettes etc are discarded on site. For some theme parks, zoos and attractions that can mean tens of thousands of people throwing vast quantities of rubbish away every day.

Sports Stadiums

Sports stadiums are another such location. Here, even greater numbers in a far smaller area congregate, again consuming food and drinks – all of which has to be disposed of. Again, these are captive visitors so everything that is consumed on the premises gets disposed of there too.

Managing Waste

So how do locations like this manage to keep litter-free and handle all that waste? Well there are four aspects for waste management in such high volume areas:

Number of Bins

Ensuring they have enough rubbish bins is essential for these locations. Not enough bins will mean the waste bins that do exist will quickly fill, overflow and lead to littering.

Public bins have to be large

Size of Rubbish Bin

Another key aspect is ensuring the rubbish and litter bins are big enough. If bins are too small then the same problems as above will exist which is why large exterior and public bins are used in such areas.

Location of Bins

If the bins are in the wrong location people may not find them or may choose to dispose of litter on the floor rather than walk round looking for the bins so good planning to site the bins in the right location (such as near eateries and snack bars).

Frequency of Emptying

Finally, ensuring the litter bins are emptied frequently also ensures that they don’t over flow. Most areas like this have a team of waste management technicians who continually empty the bins disposing of the waste in large exterior receptacles.

There was a time that on an evening the day before the binmen came we didn’t have to do a thing. Early in the morning, the dustmen would come down the garden bath, take our sturdy dustbin and empty into the back of the waste compactor.

Things, however, have changed. Most of us now have to wheel our own bins onto the side of the road for the refuse collectors to empty. We then have to wheel it back. Furthermore, few of us have just one bin as recycling is now part and parcel of our rubbish collections.

Some people find recycling quite difficult and a bit of chore. Having to empty different items into the bin once a week. However, the key to recycling is to ensure you have interior recycling bins so you can separate recycled material as you throw it away.

There are two approaches to this. The first is to buy recycling bins for different materials. Recycling bins with colour coded lids are available to help you establish a rule for what can be thrown into each bin.

There is a variety of styles, shapes and size of recycling bin and some look quite modern and contemporary. The variety means you should be able to find recycling bins that suit you home.

The second method is to buy a recycling bin with multiple compartments. These are better for people in smaller homes where space is concern. They come in double or triple compartments each with a different colour lid. These too, come in various sizes and styles.

Stylish colour coded recycling bins

While most local authorities provide exterior recycling bins, not all do and some provide cartons that can easily get blown or knocked over. There is, however, nothing stopping you from buying your own external recycling bin which you can then empty into the proper receptacles when the time is required.

A lot of householders do this who don’t want too many bins in their home and don’t mind emptying the indoor recycling bins regularly.

Recycling bins are easy to use and are now a prerequisite for most householders so if you have not yet got a set in your home perhaps its time to start thinking about getting them.

Tags: external bin, recycling, recycling bin, recycling tips

When providing bins for the public, whether you are a business, private organisation or a public body, it is important to remember that when providing rubbish bins there are safety and security aspects to think about.

Rubbish bins are an essential part of any building or premises, especially when members of the public are around. Ensuring there is somewhere to dispose of litter is important to keep the property clean but there are some important aspects to think about when installing and buying rubbish bins.

Hotel Bins often have to be fire retardant

Fire

An unfortunate side effect of most rubbish bins is that a lot of the litter can catch alight. Fires in public buildings can be catastrophic and even if no smoking policies are instilled in the area fires can still start, either accidentally or maliciously.

Fire retardant bins are especially important in buildings like hotels and hospitals where a fire could go unnoticed and spread before it can be dealt with.

Security

In busy pedestrian areas another aspect to think about is security. Bins have in the past been used to hide explosive devices in and a blast in a densely populated area could have terrible consequences.

See-though sack holders are often used in public areas like railway stations and airports. These prevent any suspicious package from being hidden inside as the contents of the bin are clearly visible.

Smells and Mess

Preventing smells and are also another consideration. Bins can be knocked over – deliberately or otherwise – so public bins should be mounted to either the floor or wall. If there is a food-premises around then you need to install a bin with a good fitting lid to prevent smells as this is unhygienic as well as repugnant – flies and other pest could be attracted to the bin.

Sourcing bins for public areas is not as simple as most people first think and if proper thought does not go into the problems that could occur then the rubbish bin could land you into trouble.

Tags: external bin, fire retardant bins, rubbish bin, wate management

Washable Nappies – Eco Friendly Parenting and Nursery Care
Thursday, 23rd, September
Written by: Richard N Williams

With a growing national conscience about the environment more and more people are becoming aware of the need to recycle and live a little more eco friendly. One area where people are looking at to reduce the waste they dispose of is resorting to washable nappies – doing away with the environmentally damaging disposable nappies.

Even in the service sector, such as nurseries and care facilities, there has been a return of the washable nappy, either through requests by the customer, or by the organisations themselves making an effort to reduce waste and be friendlier to the environment.

Washable nappies are often thought of as difficult to use and troublesome to empty and wash, but this is not necessarily the case. Washable nappies are no more difficult to or time consuming to use than disposable nappies and as long as you have the right equipment – changing, storing and washing nappies can be easy.

65l nappy bin

Requirements

Along with the usual moisturisers and baby powders, the only other requirements in using washable or Terry’s nappies are safety pins (although some modern washable nappies have reusable straps) and a good nappy bin.

The nappy bin is a vital part of the process as this is where the soiled nappies are kept until they are washed and ensuring you have the right nappy bin is a key part of the process.

Requirements of a nappy bin

A good nappy bin needs to have just two requirements. It has to be large enough to contain the nappies that have to be stored in there until they are washed. This can be problematic for some people in the care sector as traditionally nappy bins have only been manufactured for home use; however, as more and more people return to washable nappies there is now more choice and it is possible to get 50 litre and even 65 litre nappy bins.

The second requirement for any good nappy bin is that it has to be able to retain smells. A good lid and a good quality bin are the key to this area. Always choose a good quality nappy bin otherwise smells will leak out.

Tags: bins, nappy bin, service industry bins, washable nappies

Waste Management for Hospitals – it’s all about the rubbish bins
Thursday, 5th, August
Written by: Richard N Williams

Waste management is perhaps more important for hospitals than any other industry or institution. Hospitals produce vast amounts of waste and refuse from all manner of sources and not all of it can just be thrown into the rubbish bins.

There are two types of waste produced by hospitals and medical settings: clinical waste, which is produced by medical procedures, and standard refuse.

Clinical waste
Clinical waste is generated from surgical procedures and contains six different types of waste, the disposal of which is strictly controlled by legislation and procedures:

• Sharps: hypodermic needles, scalpels and other sharp metallic items that have to be disposed of in special sharps bins. These are sanitary bins that are clearly marked hazardous and are designed to prevent accidental insertion of hands or digits which could lead to infection and contamination.
• Infectious – waste that can cause the spread of infection. Bandages, suture and other items that has human detritus on it has to also be disposed in a sanitary bin – which also has to be clearly marked and disposed of following correct procedures.
• Pathological: these are body parts such as human tissue which is strictly controlled in its disposal. Traditional incineration was used but more and more frequently other less environmentally damaging methods are used.
• Pharmaceuticals: drugs and chemicals that are disposed off are also strictly controlled.
• Radioactive: less common but as equally controlled; radioactive waste is often generated by x-rays and radiotherapy procedures.

Hotel Bins often have to be fire retardant

General Refuse

Hospitals also produce vast quantities of general refuse and waste too. Generated from patients, visitors, staff, offices, kitchens etc. etc. And while there are no strict guidelines for this type of waste there are things to remember when it comes to dealing with refuse in hospitals.

Hygiene is often a major factor and nurses and doctors really don’t want to handle a bin to dispose of a piece of paper as it would force them to go through their vigorous hand washing procedures. For this reason many hospital bins are pedal operated which helps reduce the risk of cross contamination too.

Another consideration for hospital bins is safety and security. Fire retardant bins are a must on wards and corridors. If a fire starts in a hospital it could lead to catastrophic loss of life Equally in this day and age, see through hospital bins are used to prevent the hiding of suspect packages.

Tags: clincial waste, fire retardant bins, hospital bins, sanitary bins

Rubbish and Pests – Eliminating Mess, Vermin and Smells
Thursday, 15th, July
Written by: Richard N Williams

In the good old days many home owners had a large metal dustbin that they would place all their rubbish into before placing the large heavy lid on top. However, times move on and very few of us have a metal rubbish bin; instead a wide variety of wheelie bins and recycling bins adorn our streets.

In some areas, rubbish is deposited on the curbside in black bags and the result is that in many areas the bags attract vermin and other pests and rubbish can be leaked over the street; having been ripped open by foxes, cats and other animals.

And it’s not just homeowners and those that use black bags either. Even modern wheelie bins can be knocked over by some pests and for businesses, especially ones that dispose of large quantities of food waste – failing to keep flies, rodents and roaches at bay can lead to closure of the business.

Types of pest

There are all sorts of animals that find human waste appealing. For homeowners the biggest problem can be foxes, cats and dogs. They can knock open bins or rip open bags causing mess and nuisance.

But for takeaway and fast food businesses the problem is exacerbated by the sheer volume of waste they dispose of. Flies, cockroaches, mice and rats can be easily attracted but difficult to get rid of, and even if the problem doesn’t lead to the local authority closing the business – if word gets out a lack of customers might.

A good lid wil help prevent vermin

And new pests are starting to get attracted to the waste in cities too. Gulls, once only seen around the coast; plague nearly every city and town.

Preventing Vermin

Prevention is always better than cure and keeping pests away from your rubbish can be easy o accomplish by following these basic steps.

• To prevent large animals from getting into your bin – ensure you have a sturdy and strong outdoor bin. Make sure it has a heavy lid too.
• If food waste is thrown away and stored outside, it is essential it is kept in a rubbish bin with a tight fitting lid. This will prevent smells and prevent your rubbish appealing to the local wildlife.
• Clean the bin regularly; use bin deodorisers if necessary otherwise you may find the detritus in a dirty bin attracts flies.
• Think of other methods of getting rid of food waste; composting is one idea.

Tags: bin deodoriser, bin deodorizer, external bin, waste bin

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